My brother Richard recently alerted me to this actress from Alabama; I was not familiar with her. Let's investigate.
I've done a number of pieces on the blog about actresses whose careers began before 1960; some are linked from this post. Joyzelle Joyner is certainly one of those women from the state who found some success in Hollywood, although her career film career did not last very long.
Lillian Joyzelle Joyner was born on August 27, 1905, in Mount Pleasant in Monroe County. She was one of 10 children of Francis E. "Frank" Joyner [1854-1920] and Anna Lillian Brantley Joyner [1874-1964]. According to their marriage certificate found on Ancestry.com, the parents had married in Mount Pleasant on June 6, 1888.
I have not determined what led Joyzelle from Alabama to Hollywood. Her entry in the International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-1938 gives us a hint, as well as some personal information about her. She was listed as 5' 5" tall, with dark brown hair and dark grey eyes; she weighed 125 pounds. Her hobby was collecting funny dolls. The book also notes she had 11 years of stage experience, including six months on the "West Coast circuit". Perhaps that stage experience eventually led to California and the movies.
The Internet Movie Database has numerous listings for Joyzelle between 1926 and 1935. There's even a 1925 listing for the silent Ben- Hur, but the role of "slave girl" is uncredited and unconfirmed. Many of the other parts have her as "uncredited" or "dancer", "cabaret dancer", "Indian dancer" or "cantina girl". Two blog posts discuss these many "exotic dancer" bits and the few substantial roles. One is Emma's 2013 piece, "The Life and Scandal of Joyzelle Joyner" and Trav S.D.'s post from 2022, "Joyzelle Joyner: Of Cooch and Courthouses." Both are heavily illustrated.
In 1932 Joyzelle appeared in two westerns, directed by her second husband, Phil Rosen [1888-1951] a cinematographer and prolific director of both silent and sound films. Whistlin' Dan featured Ken Maynard, one of the big western stars from the 1920s into the 1940s. Joyzelle has the female lead, "Carmelita".
She has a secondary role as "Dolores" in The Vanishing Frontier, a western that stars Dothan, Alabama, native Johnny Mack Brown. I've written several pieces on this blog about him. Two discussed his 1928 silent films Our Dancing Daughters and A Lady of Chance. The first paired him with Joan Crawford [one of two he made with her] and another Alabama native, Dorothy Sebastian. He starred with Norma Shearer in the second film, much of which is set in Alabama. These attempts to make Brown a romantic lead did not take, and westerns became his forte. I've written about his role in 1930's Billy the Kid, the first sound film about the outlaw; and covered his 1945 Flame of the West in which he plays--of all things--a doctor.
I wonder if Joyzelle and Johnny talked about their Alabama roots on the set of The Vanishing Frontier.
Joyner was married at least twice. In November 1927 she was seeking a divorce from Dudley V. Brand [1898-1956], who shot her in the arm during an argument. See below for a bit more information on that incident. According to a family source on Ancestry.com, she married Phil Rosen in 1929 when she was 25. The 1940 U.S. Census shows Rosen married to "Joyselle" Rosen; by the 1950 census his status was "divorced". Interestingly, the U.S. Death Index 1940-1997 at Ancestry lists her as "Joyzelle Brand".
Prior to the altercation with Brand, a note in Variety discusses phone calls to Joyner from a woman threatening to murder her entire family. A brother and two sisters were living with her at the time. The address given is 4453 Kingswell Avenue, Hollywood. That building as it looks today can be seen on Google Maps.
Joyner died on November 30, 1980, in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. According to Find-A-Grave burial details are unknown, as they are with her father. Brother Clarence and sister Rose are buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills; both died in 1972. Joyzelle must have brought her mother to California at some point. Anna died in 1964 and is also buried in Forest Lawn.
Rose, as Rose Eliska, apparently performed in Hollywood as well, according to Inside Facts of State and Screen 26 July 1930, page 7.
If you have more information about Joyzelle or members of her family, please let us know in the comments.
International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-1938 via
Internet Archive
Joyzelle Joyner at a family celebration in September 1954. She is second from the right on the bottom row.
Source: Victoria Joyner via Ancestry.com
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